It may sound morbid for some but one of the things that I
can never forget are the last few weeks of my mother here on earth. She was
still up and about and not yet hospitalized, although she had been feeling very
weak already due to a terminal illness, when she secretly confided to a trusted
friend where to find all the things she will be leaving behind if she passes
away and made sure that everything is in order. She knew that I was not ready
to lose her yet because I always get mad whenever she starts to talk about her
leaving us soon. She always said that she had done her mission on earth and she
was ready at any time when the Lord would call her back home. During that time
I can not even think of that possibility and was really praying hard for God to
extend her life even longer. She knew that I was clinging to her more than I
should. I just realized now how much it hurt her that I was not ready to
confront the fact that she might go soon. She tried her best to put up a good
fight and remained hopeful for our sake so that she could spare me of the pain
of losing her. She was not able to say the things she needed to tell me since I
would always stop her from saying anything more when she starts to talk about
leaving us and refused to listen to her. It was our town fiesta in San Luis and
we had a bishop and several priests as guests at home when she suddenly told
them that she would like them to celebrate her funeral mass when she dies. Of
course, they were surprised and refused to even entertain the thought but my
mother was vehement about it that they finally agreed and said yes. My mother
died in March 15, approximately 2 weeks after she said it. Her funeral mass
became one of the grandest funeral that our town would always remember since it
was concelebrated by Bishop Quizon and more than 10 priests in all. She was one
of the active parishioners in our church who participated in the renovation of
the church which reminds me of the people whom I have met at San
Lorenzo in Walnut who actively participated in the building of
their church. I should say that my mother is really one of those people that
eagerly await the Lord. The gate of heaven has been opened through Jesus and we
have gained for ourselves an access to heaven. The tomb is empty and the
fullness of His glory is truly present in us all. Jesus both God and Man has
taken humanity into a new intimacy with God and invites us to a communion in
Jesus Christ. He is the one who ascends to heaven, something that we can not do
of our own power. But He enters into the fullness of His priesthood just like
what the 1st reading tells us today in Hebrews. We are all called by God to
receive the promised eternal inheritance. No one is exempted or excluded from
it only those who by their own free will refuse to respond to this wonderful
gift. It sometimes happens when we tend to take for granted what is being given
to us by setting it aside and forgetting about it. Let us be perfectly aware of
this gift and get a hold of it for it is ours to keep. Amen. Hallelujah!
Hebrews 9:15, 24-28
15 Christ is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has
taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those
who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. 24 For Christ did
not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven
itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf. 25 Not that he might
offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the
sanctuary with blood that is not his own; 26 if that were so, he would have had
to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world. But now once for all he
has appeared at the end of the ages to
take away sin by his sacrifice. 27 Just as it is appointed that human beings
die once, and after this the judgment, 28 so also Christ, offered once to take
away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to
bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.
Is there any other place we would like to be other than in
the loving presence of God? This, I'm sure we can and should have a straight
answer without delay. No one should ever claim that they haven't heard or known
about God since it is our prime duty to spread and make it known throughout the
whole world. There is no denying to the truth that all of us are given the
chance to know who our God is and it is also our duty and responsibility to
take part in this mission of spreading the good news and make known to everyone
to the best of our ability the saving power of God. We should consider each day
as an opportunity to know and learn more about our God. Whether it be an
ordinary or special day in our life nothing should be amiss and should be spent
in giving glory to God our Savior and Master. We can never ever deny the
greatness of our God even just by looking at the simplest part of God’s creation
like the tiniest grain of sand to the largest ocean in the world. As in
Jeremiah 5:22, “Will you not tremble before me who set the sand as limit to the
sea, as an everlasting barrier it can not pass? Its waves may toss but not
prevail, they may roar but can not pass beyond.” We ask ourselves how in the
world can a tiny grain of sand hold the vastness of the ocean in the same way
we know that we have a God whose saving power is known throughout the earth. It
is our duty to ourselves to aim for the ultimate good which is the will of God
in our lives. This is not something that we still have to search and look for.
It is already programmed in us and made known to us by the Lord. If by any
chance this is not the case especially for those people who have not heard or
known about our Lord Jesus since birth then the Lord Himself knows how to deal
with them in accordance to His Divine Wisdom and Mercy. For us who have been
blessed and endowed with the privilege of hearing and knowing about Jesus, this
is coupled with a responsibility. The principle that to those who have been
given much, much is also expected definitely applies to it. We have a
responsibility in our hands to make known to everyone we meet about this vital
truth that could spell the difference between life and death. It is always for
our good to attend activities that nourish our soul. We are enlightened and
inspired because of the many good things we can learn from it. Whenever we hear
words of wisdom it could always help us make sense of the things happening
around us even suffering. It gives a feeling of special joy and gladness in
every person’s heart. If we continue to stand by the principles of God then we
will come to know that there is no truth in the saying that faith is against
reason. We can truly appreciate the relevance of the truth as explained by Pope
John Paul II that true faith come together with true reason. It is the same
thing as saying that Theology tells us that God created the world while Science
tells us how God created the world. The problem is that there is a great
propaganda out there. It makes sin appear with all its fun, excitement and
glamour. It makes virtue appear boring, lame, bland and unexciting. But the
truth of the matter is, it’s not. The pleasures that God created in this world
are enjoyed the most by those who don’t abuse them and use it simply. Who do we
think enjoys food most? The person who doesn’t know how to fast and engorges
all the time or a person after a fast experiences a feast? The virtuous person
enjoys life the most. The person who uses creation and all things according to
God’s plan enjoys it the most. It is because pleasure is God’s idea. All the
good things in the world that people want are God’s idea. Satan can’t invent
even one bit of pleasure. But God
commands them to be used so that it leads to life and a part of life is joy.
The way to enjoy life is to follow God’s commands. Life is not all about rules
and regulations. God did not just give us a bunch of rules and regulations that
we are supposed to obey like machines. What we do does not just proceed from
who we are but also makes us who we are.
The actions we engage, the words that we say and the things that we do
have an impact on us. We are making ourselves all the time. We, Catholics
believe that God gave human beings reason although it sometimes gets darkened
by sin but still human reason can figure out some things. One of the things
that human beings figure out without God having to reveal it, is that human
beings need to meet 4 qualities to be deemed a human being. The philosopher,
before even Plato, Aristotle and Socrates, had this figured out. We find it
mentioned in Wisdom 8:7, the 4 virtues or qualities are also called the hinge
virtues because it is where all the other virtues or qualities of good people
would hinge. The word cardinal means hinge. The Cardinals who surround the Pope
are the doorway to the Pope. They are also the ones whom he rely the most for
advice. Everything else depends on the cardinal virtues. (Prudence or wisdom, justice,
temperance and courage or fortitude) We can also find all the cardinal virtues,
like justice which means giving each person his or her due in the Book of
Proverbs, Sirach, Ecclesiastes and all the wisdom literature in scriptures. We
all know even as kids instinctively how important justice is. The first thing
that a kid cries out as soon as he learns how to talk if he has brothers and
sisters is “Not fair, he got more than I did” or “You ask me to do more than
what that person is doing.” This is because we have instinctively or natively
offensive justice. Each person has rights and ought to get their due. There’s
also another part of justice that we forget, that is, we have obligations and
duties to everyone. A person who is unjust is not a good person. To be just, we
need to control our passions. Temperance is a virtue that balances and controls
our passions. It is like controlling our desire for that last piece of cake if
we know that it belongs to our sister. In order to be just, we’ve got to control
our appetites. Make our appetites come into line with justice, truth and
goodness. We’ve got to have that balance in our life in order to be a good and
effective person. Temperance makes this happen. We also have to be courageous.
If we are not courageous then every time a difficulty arises we’re going to
shrink back. If there’s any danger involved in doing the right, just and wise
thing then we’re just going to crack out and find an excuse because we’re
afraid. Courage or fortitude helps us to master fear and not let fear keep us
from doing what’s right. In the same way that we want justice to prevail always
since it is very frustrating when we encounter situations that are very unjust.
We are reminded in today's psalm that we can all be assured of the truth that
the Lord rules the earth and He rules with justice there is no doubt. We've got
to take hold of the marvelous things that God has done. Nothing else matters
than the truth that we are all loved by God and given the privilege of taking
part in His great kingdom in heaven. God revealed to us Himself in various
different ways. In the gospel of Mark: "the gospel of Jesus Christ, the
son of God" (Mk 1:1) is summarized by the phrase - The person of Jesus,
and the gospel of Luke:"The gospel of glory to God in high heaven and
peace on earth to those on whom his favor rest (Lk 2:14) is summarized by the
phrase - Joy to the world, while the gospel of John:"the gospel of the
Word that became flesh and made his dwelling among us and we have seen his glory"
(Jn 1:14) is summarized by the phrase - Eternal life then the gospel of Matthew
is where all this happened to fulfill what the Lord had said through the
prophet (Mt 1:22) and is written almost 55x in this gospel and summarized by
the phrase - The Coming of the Kingdom. God's saving power is manifested in
this treasury of books that have been preserved and handed to us from
generation to generation. No one can deny the fact that to all God has been
gracious and loving with no exception at all. God's faithful love should compel
us to do the best we could ever do. There was a time when my computer got
bugged down and happened to be the same time that I heard and was touched by
the homily of Fr. Joseph Magdaong in the healing mass at St. Christopher where
Hendrie who fixed my computer was serving as a member of the choir. It had been
several years since I heard about this story of a tailor and his needle but I
would never forget and always remember it especially the perfect timing and
situation when I heard it. This tailor who was about to die spoke his last and
they were these words, "Give me my key to heaven." At first those
people who were there and heard him did not understand what he was talking
about until they realized that he was asking for his needle. In the same way we
must have our own keys in heaven as we try to examine ourselves and find out
what is it in our life that can be compared to that needle in a tailor's life
or our special talents that we can offer to God. I could still very well
remember that I was on the verge of tears upon hearing that because I
immediately thought of this computer that I am using to spread the word of God
through my everyday reflections on the word of God that I write and share to
others through e mail. I am just full of gratitude and joy in my heart for all
the amazing things that God had done especially of the fact that this computer
which I consider the needle in my life remained in perfect condition since that
time on. There is a need for us to respond to God's call to each one of us to
become channels of His blessings as His power is revealed in us. We will just
run out of excuses and alibis why we should not give honor and praise to God.
There is really nowhere to go but to God and that we would have to realize not
sooner or later but right now and act on it. But we have to trust, hope and
rely on God rather than our own power. Let's face it we sometimes rely too much
on ourselves and too little on God. We are troubled about a lot of things when
sometimes there's really no cause for it. There are levels of anxiety.
Exaggerated anxiety and discouragement are one of the greatest obstacles to
holiness. There is a level of anxiety that we just have to trust in God's Grace
and Goodness. We should not disturb our inner peace not even momentarily. Life
on earth is a great struggle indeed for God's Kingdom. A lot of things can
bother and bring us down but we do not have to stay that way. We have to
exercise our minds and wills to put our confidence in God. He is the one whom
we can totally trust and depend on to save us. Our life is much about the daily
revelations of God to us through all the circumstances that surround us which
points to only one truth, He is victorious. Victory is surely in our hands once
we've made the right move and choice. Let us take our stand and know that God's
grace is sufficient for us. We will not be put to the test beyond our strength.
Things are bound to get better for as long as we hold on to God's promises.
Today's psalm, kind of remind me of this preaching about this wise man from the
East in the Old Testament (OT), he is a prophet named Balaam and served an evil
and wicked king. King Balak wanted Balaam to exact a curse upon Israel
but from his mouth came forth a blessing. He prophesied in Numbers 24:15,18
that there shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel who will dispossess Edom . A star and a scepter
signifies kingship. In parallel, it was also the 3 wise men in the New
Testament (NT) during the time of King Herod an Edomite who were looking for a
star that would direct them to the newborn King of Israel, Jesus. He is truly
our King and the fulfillment of God's promise. We are all called to respond
with gratitude to the Lord who has revealed His saving power to us. There is no
doubt that the God of the house of Israel is still the same one true
God of today. The same privilege is handed over to us as the chosen people of God , Israel
Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6
R: Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous
deeds.
1 Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous
deeds; his right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. (R) 2 The Lord has
made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his
justice. 3 He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house
of Israel .
(R) All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. 4 Sing
joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. (R)
The truth is that there is no sin that God can not forgive.
No sin is greater than the mercy of God. Now what is this in today's gospel
that speaks of unforgiveable sin? God the Holy Spirit dwells in us and if we
continue to dishonor Him with our persistent and unstoppable sinning then it
could already be called blaspheming because we are continuously ignoring the
constant presence of God in us. It's totally refusing God's mercy. It's plain
and simple. God forgives all sins but can't forgive those who do not ask for it
nor are those who aren’t sorry for it. This happens when our hearts are hardened
by sin. I had been bothered by this sensitivity in my tooth and found out that
it has hardened plaque and can not be fixed by a simple oral prophylaxis. It
needed deep cleaning and costs much more in order to save the tooth. We need to
give proper attention like constant and regular check up to the dentist in
order to avoid something like this from happening. The same is true if we do
not take care of our souls and continue to sin. Sin and plaque may have
something in common after all. If it
becomes too hard, we may come to a point when we are beyond repair. Let us not
allow this to happen and be forever stained with everlasting sin. We are all
called by God to receive the promised eternal inheritance. No one is exempted
or excluded from it only those who by their own free will refuse to respond to
this wonderful gift. It sometimes happens when we tend to take for granted what
is being given to us by setting it aside and forgetting about it. Let us be
perfectly aware of this gift and get a hold of it for it is ours to keep. The
good news of our salvation which was obtained for us more than 2000 years ago
by Jesus Christ on the cross is still being proclaimed to this very day. Jesus
is the one who entered the house and tied up the strong man in order to take
back the plunder of the devil. There is no way we can deny the truth for heaven
and earth will fade but God's words will remain. We are not bound of any chains
for God has set us free, we claim victory in Jesus name. Amen. Hallelujah!
Mark 3:22-30
....But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his
property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be
forgiven them. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never
have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”
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